In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing…just kidding, this post won’t be written by AI!
While it can be fun to laugh at unedited AI-generated blog posts that all seem to use the same phrases, there are some interesting possibilities when it comes to email marketing.
Chances are you’ve seen AI assistants integrated within email service platforms like Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and others.
There are also AI tools that have similar functions and help you write and design entire emails with some additional input.
But can these tools replace having an in-house team or agency? Let’s discuss what’s available today, how it works, and the strengths & weaknesses of these AI tools for your email marketing.
AI Assistants & Email Builders
AI tools are being directly integrated into email service platforms. Examples include subject line helpers, generating custom segments based on your description, and even generating blocks of content for your emails.
There are even 3rd party email builders that can create most of the content based on your inputs. After that, you can copy the code and load it into your email platform.
No matter what you use, it’ll work best in the hands of someone who is already skilled in email marketing.
But that doesn’t mean these tools are useless either. Like anything, there are potential strengths and weaknesses. Here are the main ones.
AI Email Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Idea Generation
Let’s face it, sometimes we can deal with writer’s block or just not be in the mood to get started. That’s where AI can help quite a bit. Seeing a quickly generated list of subject lines or email ideas (even if most of them are bad) can be enough to kickstart your imagination to think of something better.
Idea generation is one of the strongest value points of using AI or AI assistants to help with your email marketing.
Faster Production
Similar to the above, AI tools can help you lean into action and move faster when coming up with ideas for content. Having a paragraph of text that you end up editing heavily is a better start than a blank screen.
AI can also help with creating blocks of content or segments and might be faster than tinkering around with specifications on your own.
Speeding up production of needed but monotonous tasks, can free up time for you to focus more on strategy, analytics, or other aspects of your marketing.
Predictive Analytics
AI tools in Email platforms like Klaviyo can even help with forecasting events like next order date, spending potential, churn risk, and more.
These are key points of data that can help inform your marketing strategy, messaging, and the kinds of automations you have set up.
But once again, this is most useful for someone already experienced in email marketing and knows exactly how to use this data.
Weaknesses
Starting From Square One
An AI tool has no actual memory or the ability to learn about your brand and retain that information. So when it comes to having AI write your copy you’ll effectively start from square one each time. If you’ve spent time using ChatGPT or other AI tools, you’ll know that it can get certain things wrong more often than not, even if you explicitly direct it to write a certain way or avoid jargon and buzzwords.
The time spent re-writing and editing what’s created can sometimes feel like more trouble than it’s worth.
Brand & Personality
Yes, if you just need to fire off some quick generic content, AI can do an adequate job. But “good enough” isn’t really good enough if you want to grow an iconic brand is it?
If you have a strong brand voice, it can be hard to capture that with AI-generated content. As mentioned above, it will not advance and get to know your brand better over time, so this would be a consistent issue.
Related to this, coming up with new angles and being truly creative are weak points for AI. Far too often it leans into generic content, overused buzzwords, and jargon.
We’re not saying you’d make $0 from the emails created by AI, but the potential is so much higher when you have experienced partners who truly understand your brand and audience crafting your messages.
Should you use AI for Klaviyo email marketing?
If you’re already a skilled marketer, tools like Klaviyo’s AI assistant can help you in a few ways. It can speed up your workflow, help you create segments based on predictive analytics, and even potentially speed up the design process.
However, if you’re looking to press a button and get amazing results, then we’re sorry to say that’s not going to happen yet. It’s simply not at the point where AI can be a nearly hands-off solution for your email marketing needs.
And if you’re a solo entrepreneur or have a small team, stretching yourself thin and trying to do a whole different job on top of your current responsibilities just isn’t the way to go.
Whether or not these tools are useful ultimately depends on the user. If you already have extensive experience, such as helping dozens of brands make 20% to 40% of their revenue from email marketing, then these AI tools have the potential to help you do your job faster.
If that’s not you, then you’ll likely be wrestling with two new skill sets in terms of learning email marketing and learning how to effectively use AI tools.
If that’s the case for you, then you’re better off hiring an in-house team or working with an agency.
Still want a hands-off solution?
Go ahead and request a free audit and we’ll see how we can maximise your email marketing results.
If you’re a good fit, we’ll be able to handle all aspects of your email marketing. From custom tailored strategies, email campaigns that resonate with your customers, and automated flows that bring in revenue on autopilot.
This is as close as you’re going to get to pressing a button and getting a strong email marketing machine driving revenue for your brand.
